Greetings Dr. Research Advisor,
I am writing you in regard to my current research into the induction of new
recruits into a military training establishment. Thus far, all has gone well with
the exception of an incident I observed this morning. During my daily
observations throughout the training establishment, I observed two staff verbally
degrading a new recruit while they continually shoved down, struck him with
various objects, and repeatedly forced him to recite the institution's mantra while
utilizing the aforementioned techniques to incite error on part of the recruit, thus
continuing the process. I am writing you to express not only the concern for the
current and future recruits, but my ethical obligations instilled by the APA Code
of Conduct and how I ought to proceed. c
First, during the 8-week course of this research, this is the first time I have
observed any behaviors or interactions remotely similar to what I witnessed this
morning. Additionally, there have been no mentions of safety concerns, fear of
harm, or descriptions by any of the other 44 recruits that would indicate use of
the initiation techniques that I observed today. That being said, I am beginning
to worry about the reactivity of the participants and whether or not the
interaction I witnessed this morning is a means for the staff to force the recruits
to act, respond, and behave in certain ways to elicit a specific outcome of my
research. While everyone knows of my presence, my role in being here, and
the intent of the research in accordance with APA code of conduct principle of
Fidelity and Responsibility, I am wondering if my presence is consequently
violating the principle of beneficence and nonmaleficence. Therefore, I believe
one course of action I can take is reduce the timeframe of my research and
complete the research tomorrow and use 7-weeks of data instead of the
proposed 8-weeks. The main motivation behind the decision to terminate the
research early is due to the belief that my research has resulted in harm
coming to the recruits of my research. Furthermore, in order to minimize harm
in accordance with APA code 8.08 Debriefing, I believe cessation of my
presence is the best course of action.
Alternatively, while my primary concern is the reduction of harm and safety of
my research participants, I also worry that the reactivity of the participants may
have skewed the potential findings of my research. Moreover, since the
aforementioned initiation techniques have been used on one of my participants,
this raises the question of the likelihood that additional recruits have received
similar treatment without my knowledge. Furthermore, while the military
institution does not have an explicit statement or description of how new recruits
are trained here in order to enter the military, I do not believe these actions
align with the principles and ethical obligations afforded to human research
participants as stated by APA code 1.03 Conflicts Between Ethics and
Organizational Demands. In addition to treatment of this one recruit and
potential similar treatment to other recruits, APA code 8.10 Reporting Research
Results demands we do not publish fabricated data or data with significant
errors. While my data and current methods do align appropriately with the
procedures laid out in my proposal, I do believe that the integrity of this
research has been compromised considering the premise of my research is on
non-corporal initiation techniques. Furthermore, if I were to continue and publish
my findings with the premise of non-corporal techniques, I would be
misrepresenting facts and knowingly engaging in research that may be causing
harm which directly contradicts principles, A (do no harm), B (acknowledge my
presence may be precipitating harm), C (misrepresentation of fact), D (my
participants may be experiencing more harm than benefits of my research), and
APA codes 8.08, and 8.10.
Overall, I do believe the best course of action is to terminate and debrief my
research immediately and conduct exit debriefing tomorrow. Additionally, I am
unsure of the validity of my research given the potential reactivity from the
recruits. Therefore, I believe that extensive review of my data is needed in
order to determine the validity and potential research, scientific, and education
benefits my research could pose. I look forward to discussing this matter with
you further and implementing an efficacious solution.
Respectfully,
American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists
and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1,
2017). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
